Surviving Contact With The Plot

I’m kind of using it, and kind of not. Every couple weeks, I come back to it and tweak something. I roll some dice and stare at it for a few hours. I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking for — just that I haven’t found it quite yet.

What I hope for is a sheet that says at a glance — “what happens next.”

I’ve developed a couple parallel concepts, like the “Guest Star,” which follows a TV-like idea for injecting new characters into the game. The trouble now is making them interesting and important while also disposable.

I’m experimenting with “narrative roles” as well, trying to find a firm but flexible system that can be slipped on PCs and NPCs alike, to drive “the story” forward, whatever it may be. It’s pretty abstract, I’m at a loss to describe it.

I have a “Plot Line” system in the works, which gives mechanics, personality, and terminology to what is essentially the “Doom Track” from Arkham Horror.

But in television, time can move the plot along. Wait, that isn’t true. There are shows that go on for hours without any development — “Reality” television.

What moves the plot then?

Something “touching” the plot must do it — a protagonist or an antagonist, I suppose. Maybe the plot can move on its own, via some kind of inertia. But before it can move on its own, it must first be acted upon.

I think I lost touch with what I was going for here — plus I’m writing this at the same time as actually working on the thing, so my mind keeps wandering.